The Lakers Scandal

The Mark Lakers for Governor campaign is in complete panic mode right now.

Or if they’re not, they should be.

Not only is their campaign teetering toward bolivian (as Mike Tyson once said), but they may be in serious danger of being subject to civil penalties or even (gulp!) criminal charges!

As you probably have read, the Lakers campaign recently filed their finance report with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, listing $23,000 in cash received — and $309,000 in “pledges”. (Note, if you’re ever reviewing this sort of stuff, that’s what’s known in industry-speak as a “red flag”.)

Well, as a few of the “donors” got wind of their “pledge” (we’ll stop using quotes at “some point” here…), they let the NADC know that A) they didn’t make any pledge and that either B) they don’t make political contributions or C) they support Dave Heineman!

Now the Attorney General’s office (upon request of the NADC) is looking into the matter.

So, instead of just linking to all of those unfulfilled pledges (which you can find online here), we figured we would list them out, so maybe any others of those could take a look and see if they, unbeknownst to them, made such a “pledge”.

“Donor”

“Pledge”

GREAT WESTERN BANCORPORATION

20000.00

BILL HANIGAN

10000.00

JIM JENKINS

10000.00

BEREXCO

10000.00

CARGILL INCORPORATED

10000.00

HODNE FARMS

10000.00

KAPPA ETHANOL

10000.00

MASCHHOFFS INC., THE

10000.00

MID-AMERICA BIO ENERGY & COMMODITIES LLC

10000.00

MONSANTO COMPANY

10000.00

NANC, INC.

10000.00

SANDRIDGE ENERGY, INC.

10000.00

JULIE MASCHHOFF

7500.00

AG AND FOOD ASSOCIATES, LLC

7500.00

RON BEACH

5000.00

SCOTT BURROUGHS

5000.00

DENNIS FOGLAND

5000.00

R. BRAD HARSE

5000.00

NORM HEDGECOCK

5000.00

JOHN HOICH

5000.00

JOHN HOLZFASTER

5000.00

RALPH HOLZFASTER

5000.00

EJNAR KNUDSEN

5000.00

STEVE TURNER

5000.00

ADAMS LAND & CATTLE CO.

5000.00

AMAIZING ENERGY

5000.00

E ENERGY ADAMS, LLC

5000.00

GROVELAND CAPITAL

5000.00

PASSPORT CAPITAL

5000.00

SCOULAR COMPANY, THE

5000.00

STANDARD NUTRITION

5000.00

DAVID DOMINA

4000.00

KRAUSE CORP

4000.00

LN, INC.

4000.00

LOZIER CORPORATION

3000.00

FRANK CARROLL

2500.00

JASON LOGSDON

2500.00

(Note: We took out anyone who was listed as having made an “unpaid pledge”, but has already made an actual pledge. While this still may be suspect, and we have no doubt the AG’s office will look into it, at least those folks seem to be supporters of one kind or another…)

Just those listed there, giving Lakers the benefit of the doubt as noted above, comes to $260,000.

Now. We will guess that there are some listed above who DO support Lakers and DO intend to give him some cash.

But note those who said that their inclusion on Laker’s NADC form is complete BS:

E Energy Adams, listed at $5,000. The CEO “has never discussed donating to Lakers’ campaign with either Lakers or anyone on Lakers’ campaign staff.”

Kappa Ethanol, $10,000, “pledged nothing to the Lakers campaign and has also supported Heineman in the governor’s race.”

Berexco, $10,000, “We support Governor Heineman. We’ve had no conversations with anyone from Lakers’ campaign.”

Great Western Bank, $20,000, “it’s not the bank’s practice to make political pledges or contributions.”

If that’s the case with those $55,000 worth of bogus pledges, the rest have to be suspect as well, right?

In Lakers’ defense, he says a dude he knows totally told him that all these pledges were %1000 there, man.

In the mean time, if you see Lakers we would suggest not making eye contact, sudden movements, or for gawd’s sake, not shaking hands. He will undoubtedly take any of those actions to mean you have pledges $30-40,000 to his campaign.

116 comments

SS, forgive the repost, but this nugget from last night belongs on this post:

__________________

A Short PlayBy NE Voter

[An executive of a regulated industry in Nebraska who has pledged support to Mark Lakers sits at his desk. The telephone rings.]

Executive: Hello?

Heineman Henchman: Hi, I'm calling from Governor Dave's office. We noticed that you pledged a sizable contribution to the Mark Lakers for Governor campaign. You know, at first, we all kind of laughed it off, until we remembered that your company is a regulated industry here in Nebraska, and to let you know that Gov. Dave has a meeting with your board Chairman at that big corporate confab at the Sandhills Golf Course next week. So, we thought we'd check with you to verify that — So, what say you?

Executive: Mark Lakers? Never heard of him. I and my regulated business fully support Governor Dave!

Heineman Henchman: That's what we thought. Whew, what a relief! Someone should call NADC and complain about such outrageous campaign activities! Executive, did you get that last part?

Executive: You know, I should call NADC and complain about such outrageous campaign activities!

If lakers can't figure out his campaign money…he will be the last person I will ever trust with our tax dollar money. As for Geary he just ticks me off with the things he says! Heineman has my support and will always have my support for anything he does!

I can't believe someone mentioned Geary. Last Friday he chose to stand outside the Douglas County Courthouse and campaign. He managed to pick the day it was closed (for Arbor Day)– so not many people came by. He stayed for hours. That really says it all.

"Scandal" LOL Street Sweeper. You write as though you have been a frustrated newsreporter at the OWH. Calling this a scandal–for over-reporting, as in overly transparent, as in reporting pledges (which are just that, pledges, whether there was misunderstanding or otherwise) is rediculous. The guy's staff complied with rules on reporting pledges. If people want to back out because they were publicly outed or because of Tinyman's (NE Voter, I really like your GOP is for Smaller Gov stuff –let's call Fulton Tinyman II) staff's threats, so be it.

This scandal has nothing to do with over reporting… it has to do with the appearance that Lakers & Co have been putting people down who didn't actually intend to give them money, to pump up their numbers.

What remotely believable reason would these companies have to try to pull a fast one on a massive underdog campaign like this? The down side is waaay too big to be believable. Unless some damning evidence comes out… Occam's razor would appear to suggest some kind of big misstep on Lakers' campaign.

Even if they did get tricked… boy oh boy was it a sophemoric mistake. Assuming that companies with a history of supporting Heineman would give them such large sums… not very smart.

SS, SK. You may consider that perhaps you have been living inside the "beltway" aka the topsy turvy world of Alice in Wonderland for far too long if you really truly believe that Mr. Mrs. or Ms. Main Street will read this as a "scandal" as you and some other bloggers do or spin as such. Outside of the Alice's world, as in main street, the public won't view this as "scandal" at all, just more negative hit politics that sours so many of us on politics as usual.

Don't you have to have the name of a person when you accept a pledge or an actual check or money as a candidate? If no name is necessary I would like to make a donation pledge of $10,000 to Jane Kleeb's School Board Campaign in the name of Street Sweeper d.b.a. Leavenworth Street.

I listened to Lakers in an interview with KGFW Kearney this morning. No denials whatsoever. He played it like he knew nothing at all about the "allegations." The guy is from another planet.

I agree with Jon Bruning's comment at 11:34…I don't want Lakers with his hands anywhere near the State's coffer. I wouldn't however drink Heineman Kool-Aid and follow him off a cliff as he commented. So far all that Heineman has done is follow the Nebraska Governor's Handbook and smile and wave. With Kansas perturbed at us…he could end up being another costly EBN clone before his next political sashay.

Since this has turned into a fiction writers blog…I guess one other question you have to ask yourself is…"Who would you prefer more in another year…Governor Lakers or Governor Sheehy? With that as a consideration…I myself would have to flip a coin before voting this November. Maybe it was Sheehy that made the pledges for Lakers for all these corporations???

Geary is a fool, but he is using the Run for Gov as cheap advert for his "Martial Arts" world.

He is considered a fool in martial arts too. He is so full of himself and won't "spart or fight" anybody. I think he has some compensation issues going back to his father taking off at an early age. He did the Marine Corps route, and he does get cred there, but he quite that too.

Then there is that little issue down in San Marco Island Fl, where he vadalized a female students car because she turned him down. Then destroyed his place of business because she took a restraining order out on him. BUT one of her family members bought the business and just before Geary got into the business of running for office ( this is at least his third race in 2 years) he went and paid the damages so the state of Fl dropped the FELONY Arrest warrant! Classy guy.

So there you have it. All of this is verifiable just look up Geary and San Marco Island.

Here's another angle…Lakers staff made up the phony pledges and either Jane Kleeb and her thugs formerly known as SEIU…or George Soros would drop a large deposit hoping the aforementioned corporations and others would not notice.

I agree…we need to hear the rest of the story. Is Bruning saavy enough to get to the bottom of things?

About a year ago, Sweeper, you wrote some positive things about Don Walton, the LJS political reporter, after a mention in his column. We disagreed; I said Walton was an unvarnished Democratic party hack.

I suggest you go look at Walton's apologia for Lakers, just posted on the LJS site.

Guys, don't get your hopes up. Prosecutions of election laws seldom happen and convictions are rarer than hens' teeth. This is all going to get chalked up to an honest mistake and nothing will come of it.

RWP:I would still stand by the fact that Walton is one of the few newspaper reporters who actually talks about politics at all.

That being said, it is always obvious when he wants to give someone a broad path to tell their story. Nelson comes to mind. And he's done it with Lakers here too.

You're right here that he lets Lakers take swipe after swipe at Bruning — w/o any response from Bruning.Or anything to the extent of, "Even though Lakers had over $300K in pledges, but only $20K actually in pocket."

Ah well. I suppose it's good he wrote something, right? OK, maybe not. But still….

One interesting thing about the Walton column is how several of Lakers' multiple versions of the story seem to have been road-tested in the comments section of this blog. "This guy we hired told us we had the pledges…no no it's just Bruning being partisan … no no, it's the Heineman campaign pressuring our donors… Yeah ,that's it!"

"Well sure we had an inordinate number of pledges……of huge dollar amounts…where the donors claim that they didn't give……and that would never give to a political unknown…and that in the past have given to our opponent……and we talked to some underling…but nevertheless stacked our report to make it look like we had tons of support…and that this, at the bare minimum is a case of potential fraud which should be investigated…

But the AG is a Republican!!!"

Oh and how kind of Lakers to "release" all of those pledges that he made up. Here's a better idea; Keep the pledges and challenge the donors, if he's so confident about them.

It has indeed been dismaying to see, for example, Kyle Michaelis, for whom I once had a degree of respect, simply repeat the party line.

Bruning is the State Attorney General. His office is required to investigate crimes, regardless of whether the alleged criminal is Democrat or Republican. With this apparently large number of false pledge declarations, I can't see how he or Frank Daley could possibly not conduct an investigation. They would be derelict in their statutory duties not to do so.

And some of the pledges simply can't be explained by Lakers' implausible claim that Heineman has been pressuring his donors. The South Dakota bank which doesn't, as a matter of policy, make political contributions, and which "pledged" from an Omaha address they haven't occupied in several years? Come on!

Anonymous 3:22 – I don't know what Wonderland you refer to, but I don't walk in either Democratic or Republican circles. I have very few friends who are at all political… much less very partisan.

Best thing going for Lakers over this is that nobody seems to be paying much attention except people who's minds aren't going to be changed anyway. We'll see if this comes back to haunt him later, or fizzles.

"NE Voter said…

Gosh, Sweeps, I know no one knows how this will resolve, but isn't it a bit of a exaggeration to proclaim that the Lakers campaign is "teetering toward bolivian?""

Is that a Simon Bolivar joke?!? Clever if so 🙂

If this story keeps up, I'm sure someone will get fired, like Jane said. And if something illegal happened, I can't imagine that Bruning could possibly have any more motivation to dig it up, haha

Its not like it really matters though… only chance Lakers has in winning is if Heineman makes a mistake of historic proportions.

RWP had respect for Kyle? Coulda fooled me!

This coming from the guy who, apparently psychically, claimed I would throw away voter reg forms when I was working for Nebraska Matters, hahaha.

Speaking of which, how'd that whole self righteous campaign to try and find some legal problem with voter registration go there Harbie? (You were right about the lifelong republican thing in TIME though BTW… my guess is they made that up up to make me fit into their "Red State Obama Supporters" headline, I've been an independent most of my life, although I do think I've been registered as a Rep most of the time between '99 and 2006, when I was helping Dave Kramer's campaign.

Speaking of which… does anyone know if Dave is considering running against Nelson again? Hopefully the party learned its lesson and wont nominate that amateur Ricketts again. You want swing voters to help kick Nelson out, put up Dave Kramer and I think you've got a shoe in. You want to give Nelson the best chance he has against recovering from his current slump… toss Ricketts in there again.

You wrote this while you were working for Nebraskans for Obama, and shortly after you'd described yourself on the Obama website as a young Dem, although you told Time Magazine you were a lifelong Republican. So, given the pattern of deceit you showed, and the direct lie you wrote in your letter to the UNL faculty, I think it was entirely reasonable to suggest your motives should not be trusted.

Just a reminder to those of you that are lumping ALL of us Democrats into the same mixture. That makes as much sense as what you have accused some Democrats of doing. If there is one thing that I can say about the Democrats in this state, we are all quite different one from the other and many of us don't get along with each other, for a variety of reasons.

As I mentioned in Sweeper's previous post, I actually filed a complaint with Bruning's AG office against some of the hierarchy in the 2006 NDP. The charges I brought were much more serious than the ones currently being leveled against Mark Lakers. AG Bruning chose to ignore my complaint for the reasons I stated in the previous thread on this blog, that is … the NEGOP doesn't want the lid lifted on its own barrel of garbage because it too would stink to high heaven.

Here's a chuckle for your Friday cocktail hour…part of the bailout plan for Greece includes a mandate to start privatizing their national health services to reintroduce competition and market forces to pressure exploding costs of their version of Obamacare. Source: NY Times.

After reading this blog numerous times, I have finally decided to comment.

Everyone should really think about the motivation behind this Lakers guy. Maybe he just honestly made a mistake, or maybe it was on purpose. Maybe the Gov. had something to do with it, or maybe Jon was promised a promotion for digging something up.

I highly doubt that a political newcomer would rig something like this up. He doesn't look that bright so I doubt that very much. If anything I bet it was a mistake and blowing the situation out of proportion just makes all voters turn away from the issues.

Nebraska is in trouble, just like the US. We need help. partisanship isn't working so we should maybe just focus on the issues and leave this bickering for some other state.

At the level of office Lakers is going for, $55,000 "mistakes" in the reporting should not happen. I'm sure if there was a $55,000 discrepancy in his business' own books he wouldn't shrug it off like he is.

A newcomer might not rig something like this, but what about his staff? One would hope that Laker wouldn't fill his campaign with greenhorns, but use experienced people who've worked on big campaigns before.

Or that they'd have common sense and figure out most, if not all, corporations require the CEO or Board of Director's approval before spending a good chunk of money

Since when is MORE trasnparency a bad thing? So people want their names off the list. an amended return could fix that.

Its not like Lakers used his senate office resources to organize a political attack press conference or his congressional office to force special favors from corporations – some things Bruning amybe actually should have investigated?

This is a right wing engineered smear. the best news is that Heine is so scared he flipped the switch on the attack machine – must be afraid of something.

In fairness to what BTO posted at 2:43PM it's true when it comes to lifting the lid on party garbage when it is of the opposite party…just keep it closed, nothing to see and move right along doing what ya are doing.

Argo wrote, "Sweeper, this is no joke. Kleeb and the Democrats who visit this blog make excuses for criminality."

You didn't need to mention my name. I am a Democrat that visits this blog. Logic dictates that you included me in your mass excoriation.

There is nothing about BEING a Democrat that I dislike. There is much about the way the Democratic Party has been run on all levels. I am doing my best to change what I can about that.

If you had been paying attention, and you obviously have not, you would note that I have yet to defend Mr. Lakers on this issue. I will decide whether to do that, or not, based on my own findings, not those dictated to me by anyone in my party, or outside of it. I referred to AG Bruning's refusal to investigate my complaint filed in 2007, as covering up Republican garbage LONG before Mr. Lakers had any inkling of running. Some of Sweeper's readers might remember that. You must be a newbie.

I called you an idiot because you earned it by your statements, not because I have run out of good answers. I'm not an agreeable sort of person, I don't suffer fools very well. If you followed my rants, here and elsewhere, you would already know that.

Yeah, I've got an ego, and I'm not so ashamed of it that I hide behind the generic "anonymous." At least TRY to be original and come up with a pen name so that we can differentiate you from the other gutless wonders.

I wonder how many of those pledges are clients of his "agribusiness" funding company and feel intimidated now. I certainly hope he doesn't back out of any of his business commitments simply because these people wouldn't cave to his Pelosi style intimidation.

And, if you look at his report, check the expenditures and the receipts. Most of his money came from his wife, himself, his main agri business on 156th and Dodge, a subsidiary of that agri business on 156th and Dodge, and another subsidiary of that agri business on 156th and Dodge. But not to worry, he also paid money for rent and fees to those businesses in addition to having a $500 margherita party for his staff and their spouses and a $250 dinner with Mayor Suttle at Sullivan's Prime.

This guy's stupid beyond belief. We need someone much smarter than "okay, sounds good" Mark Lakers. Frankly, I can't believe he can even understand the loan deals that he signs on a regular basis if he can't follow the simple rules of the NADC

Hey guys . The Lakers thing will blow over. A rookie makes a error. Maybe a big one maybe not? The voters will decide. But what happened in Utah? I am not a big fan of that Senator. But I think he was honest in his beliefs. He worked hard for his nation and his state. Notice I said Nation first. States rights died at Appomattox. The super right wingers have taken control of the GOP. That is not a good thing. Barry Goldwater would be a moderate democrat today. I hope you guys (members of the GOP) can fix your party. We need two good parties with reasons to vote. Hate is not a reason to vote!

Can anyone tell me why President Reagan is such a hero to the far right? From what I have found in my research, he was the last President to give full amnesty to all illegal immigrants in the United States.

This seems counter to their belief that anyone here illegally is robbing $$$ and services from legal Americans.

Is amnesty a conservative value? If so, why does the far right object so vehemently? If not, why do the 912 protesters lift President Reagan as their last great hero?

In 2012, Reagan would finish third in the Iowa GOP caucuses in a three candidate field consisting of him, Mitt (Flip Flopney) Romney and Sarah Palin.

The GOP has moved so far to the right over the past 20 years it is cracking up between the loony tea partiers/birthers/oil rig disaster truthers and the traditional GOP chamber of commerce/country club establishment (who want nothing to do with the latter, but have no choice but to hang on to them).

The 2012 image of Reagan bears little resemblance to the Reagan who left office in January 1989.

The GOP have attached themselves to Reagan as a "standard" of "conservatism" because, quite honestly, there simply haven's been many successful Republican presidents in recent decades.

Really, besides Reagan, the most recent one would be Ike. Bush 1 actually was a fine president by most standards. He was denied a second term by the hard right who, much like the tea partiers of today, were unwilling to forgive him for supporting a needed tax increase. Perot also didn't help his case.

Who else might be out there as conservative standard-bearer? Bush 2? No chance. Ford? Great lawmaker, so-so chief executive. Nixon? Fuggedaboudit. That takes you back to Ike and black-and-white television.

The only other one conservatives will even talk about is Lincoln. Of course, that was back in the Bizarro World days when the Republican Party was liberal and the Democratic Party was conservative. It's true. Look it up if you have to.

Thus, as this little history lesson demonstrates, the GOP has no choice but to mythologize Reagan as the conservative hero he really wasn't. Conservative, yes, but not by today's standards.

To carry out this canonization, the GOP regularly attempts to name things after him (National airport and the largest federal building in the U.S. — LOLz), or place his image on our currency (the dime a few years ago and the $20 dollar bill a few months ago).

Though Reagan scared the bejesus out of me when he was in office (I guess I really was more concerned about his top advisors), I've got nothing against Reagan at this point. He accepted amnesty as a practical solution to the immigration problem of his day. He worked collaboratively with his good friend and liberal icon/Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill. And he dared to imagine a world without nuclear weapons.

He also had the good fortune to be president when giants like Michail Gorbachev; Lech Walensa and Pope John Paul II were on hand. With their help (especially Gorbachev and JPII), Reagan was able to [ahem] complete the work of his 6 predecessors in the White House — all through [ahem] negotiation with our adversary.

With the luxury of hindsight, the biggest blemish on Reagan's record (besides Ithe Iran-Contra scandal), was his cutting and running from Lebanon after 241 United States Marines were killed by the [ahem] terrorist bombing.

So Reagan gets the 912ers nod from folks like Matt Sakalosky-who apparently must like the idea of amnesty for illegal immigrants, and Bush gets the label of a liberal for keeping us safe after September 11th?

I just don't get it. But, I guess there will always be folks out there willing to cut off their nose to save their face and plenty of people like Sakalosky and his family willing to follow them.

I wonder how many votes this guy will get tuesday after you subtract out the felons that don't believe in government that will undoubtedly try to vote for him.

NE Voter,You should look at historical budget deficits too. Specifically the difference in the yearly budget deficits from before and after Reagan took over, they just exploded through the roof. Tea baggers (or republicans in general) will never acknowledge that though because it doesn't fit their revisionist history.

Hey, not all R's think Reagan was a god. He did some amazing things. Cold War ending will always top my list. Setting the example of amnesty for illegals will be at the top of the other list…

I have no idea why anyone would support a candidate that drops Reagan quotes rather than their own. And, I have no idea how Sakalosky can get the support of conservatives that are sick and tired of their tax dollars being used to support illegal immigrants getting amnesty and all that comes with citizenship.

Deficit and National Security are what I worry about most and Sakalosky believing in the benefits of amnesty just like President Reagan did frightens me. Maybe it will increase his business in California, or something.

If he doesn't believe in these things, then he should quit quoting the gospel of Reagan and start giving people a straight answer about something-anything for goodness sakes.

I am glad I was in HS when Reagan got elected and I don't have to regret a vote that I may have cast for him.

You guys finished? Was the latest missive from the DNC to point out the few liberal traits of Reagan? Oh, wait, I pointed that out several weeks ago. Reagan got lambasted from the right for amnesty. He and W were under the mistaken impression that because many Hispanics are Catholic, they'd be pro-life and pro-family and more likely to vote republican. It was a huge mistake on Reagan's part but did not negate the other awesome things he did, like cut taxes. W got a lot of criticism from the Right for compassionate conservatism. Had 9/11 not happened, he probably wouldn't have gotten re-elected. However, everyone knew that the democrats were not serious about protecting this country from Islamist terrorists, and so conservatives looked past the profligate spending increases, no child left behind, and whatever else, and voted for W. So why are these men still well thought of on the Right? Easy. Obama the idiot is in office. He added 1500 billion dollars to the deficit this year alone and his national security policy is hoping that they keep sending ignorant terrorists. Heck, compared to Obama, who is rapidly approaching Jimmy Carter's second term, even Bill Clinton is viewed favorably by conservatives.

But you guys keep trying. That last flurry of posts was quite entertaining.

Macdaddy: And Bush had Bin Landen not Obama ( your racism comes out in your slip ups) in his sights at Bora Bora and he sent in locals to do the job we pay our special forces to do. The main thing Bush did wrong was Iraq. We had no business going to war there. Saadam had nothing to do with 9-11 Going to war with Iraq after 9-11 instead of sending that type of military force to Afganistain was a big error. There is good chance the war would be over with by now. Going into Iraq by Bush would be like FDR after Pearl Harbor attacking Burma instead of Japan. I was in the military during the Reagan time period. We never knew if he would get us into some dumb ass war. But Reagan is a great man compared to the Right wing reactionary nut jobs we have now in the GOP.

Okay, so I was just reviewing the saple ballots so I will actually know what I'm doing on tuesday morning (I know, over achiever), and I am really confused. According to the website that Omaha.com links to,, if you get a "non partisan ballot" then you get to vote for the Republican nominee AND the Democrat nominee for the congressional races?

Please tell me this is a mistake. I would hate to think that if you can't make up your mind as to what Party you most share your ideology with that you have to suffer the chore of voting twice?

Bud: you 're tiresome. Your aspiration to be the Third District's version of Al Sharpton is pathetic. It's Bin Laden, not Bin Landen. Learn to frickin' type, or we'll make like you, and accuse you of hating on former Republican presidential candidates. And it's Afghanistan, not Afganistain. Jeez.

I will be grading each and every one of you on your spelling and grammar mistakes from now on. Anyone receiving a C- or below will have to stay after class. Repeat offenders will be remanded to the Principal's office.

Hey RWP . You know where you can put it. Do you really think I care what a super right winger like you thinks about anything? You make me sick. I had an ex student I just found out got wounded in Iraq. I am also a vet. Your nothing but a bitch and moan immigrant. I hope we meet some time in real life. It won't be much of a meeting. My bad typing and your bad opinions. I wish I could think of more negative things too say about you. But you are not worth geeting up set over in the first place. Can you tell I am not happy? So go back to your sewer hole and dream up some more reactionary thoughts.

Wow, some people really do dislike their family. To think that you would give $13,000 to a guy you don't know, and neither does most of the rest of the world, in order to give your children a better future?

Let me tell you somethin' Ms. Heskett, you could have given that money to Building Bright Futures, BoysTown, Omaha Home for Boys, Girls Inc., any number of alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs, Catholic Charities, Boys Scouts of America, Cancer Society, Sacred Heart Academy………

BTW, no one believes that the campaign knew nothing about this (That guy on t.v. last night looked like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar when they asked him if he knew about it). Better watch out for the FEC, you never know what they might do. Maybe you can use more of your inheritance to pay your legal expenses and fines.

The problem with your candidate is that Nebraskan's have already proven that they don't like candidates that try to buy elections. Let me name a couple: Jim Esch, Pete Ricketts, Jim Simon, that rancher in Western NE that was an NU Regent until he got caught for violating election laws buy putting in a bunch of money at the end and not properly reporting it. So, in the $36,000 he raised, $12,400 came from Patricia Heskett, and almost $20,000 has come from the candidates own funds. That's pretty much you and your friends getting together to have a party.

I hope that Sak guy send s a real nice thank you to you-along with a refund of your $2400 donation so you can pay the lawyers.

One person's supporter is another person's lobbyist. Welcome to the world of politics, be sure to register with the FEC.

RWP I am sorry for insulting you over your immigration status. That was wrong. Getting after you over your right wing values or you going after me over my more liberal values is part of the game and ok. Again I am sorry for being personal. In my defense I am just worried sick over this kid I taught 12 years ago who was wounded in Iraq.

NE Voter and Bud: try reading sometime. Did I not point out that I had pointed out weeks ago that Reagan had signed amnesty? Reagan had plenty of conservative detractors, but just like now that he's dead even liberals honor him, the sands of time tend to smooth over the disagreements. That and the fact that today's president is a midget in comparison.

Bud, try reading a newspaper from time to time. Clinton had the opportunity to capture or kill bin Laden in the late 90's. He dithered and couldn't decide what to do. I guess Lewinsky was no longer allowed in to calm his fevered brow. Osama got away.

Macaddy. I never said Clinton should not had went after Bin Laden. He should have. But what Bush did was worse. We had him trapped after 9-11 in Bora Bora. He (Bush) did not allow the Special Forces to go after him. He let the locals screw it up. I still think Reagan was a terrible President. The harm he did our country; that bill is still being paid. But compared to the reactionary forces out there in the GOP today he is mild. I can name the papers I read unlike Sara Palin. I read the OWH, and the LJS. Plus the local paper. I also look over the NY Times and the Washington Post on line. Some times the Denver Post. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Elena Kagan was a paid advisor to Goldman Sachs. Wonder what she advised them on? What am I saying? Nobody cares. Nobody cares that this President is in so deep to Goldman Sachs that they can now pick his Supreme Court nominees.

Hoich is a Republican. He donates to GOP and Democrat candidates for sake of his business.

Politics is policy not substance; important but not most important.

If Hoich protects his business interests by donating to all the candidates, even while he hosts the GOP, why is that a big deal? I mean, did you quit your job last time your favorite candidate lost? Do you douse yourself with gas and light a match for sake of your party?

Freedom comes from people who work and produce. Politicians and parties are a parasitic byproduct.

You're a classic Democrat. You call someone a 'racist' over a typo, while you yourself can't spell three words correctly in succession. And I don't buy BTO's Blackberry excuse; your grammar is as bad as your spelling. You pronounce yourself liberal about immigration, while using 'immigrant' as a smear. Your 'values' are those of an ignorant, sanctimonious hypocrite.

RWP. I tried to say I was sorry. If you wil not take it so be it. Has for my handicap. I don't owe you anything for my service to our country. The best insult for me to call any one is a RIGHT WINGER. You are that. In my books that is very low.

What's your point, RWP? I know it blows right-wingers' minds that an awful lot of Democrats and those on the left served their country in the military. It doesn't fit the right-wing frame that all Dems hate their country and would not sacrifice for it. (Another typical frame that is a lie.) Seems to me that there are far more on the right that dodged the draft or were able to serve in the Natl Guard instead. As Cheney famously said "I had more important things to do".

RWP my service in the military was a good thing. Why are you anti the American military? Like all Americans who served in the military. Both GOP, Democrats and Independents. I know how important it was and is. Unlike your family values of murder in the IRA. I guess it would be a lot easier to respect you, if you ever said anything that was an attack on the message and not the messenger. Your writings on this blog and your own are so filled with hate, that I don't know how you can live with your self. Unless you are one of those types who gets pleasure out of seeing others suffer.

RWP my service in the military was a good thing. Why are you anti the American military? Like all Americans who served in the military. Both GOP, Democrats and Independents. I know how important it was and is. Unlike your family values of murder in the IRA.

A small defense of 'family values': both of my grandfathers served in the Royal Navy against the Germans; one was depth-charged back when submarines were particularly hazardous duy; the other was torpedoed. My uncle, a naval aviator, was shot down by the Germans, taken prisoner, and escaped twice (unfortunately, he was also recaptured twice). And this is despite the fact all of them were Irish, not British, and didn't have to serve in the Royal Navy.

In other word, they all served in shooting wars; they didn't kill time in the motor pool during peacetime.

When I was learning Italian back in the '80s and '90s, I found one of the most eloquent writers in that language to be a fellow named Giulio Andreotti. He often had an editorial printed in the back of L'Europeo, a magazine similar to Time or Newsweek. I found his writing to be extremely helpful in my quest to master that language and to expand my vocabulary.

Turns out, despite having been in every Italian government since 1946, and thrice Prime Minister, he was a major figure in the Mafia. and was even tried for collusion in murder. Some reputed him to be Il Capo di Tutti Capi.

Just goes to show that precision in grammatical usage and punctiliousness in spelling doesn't necessarily correlate with the validity of one's arguments.